My friend told me that Iblees (shaytan) used to be an angel. My wife says that this is not true. Could you please give me some information? Praise be to Allah. Iblees was definitely not one of the angels. This is indicated by three things: the clear texts of the Quran, the physical attributes of Iblees and the attitude of Iblees. 1- With regard to the clear statements of the Quran, Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And (remember) when We said to the angels: ‘Prostrate yourselves unto Adam.’ So they prostrated themselves except Iblees (Satan). He was one of the jinn.” [18:50] Al-Hasan al-Basri said: Iblees was never one of the angels, not even for an instant. He is the father of the jinn, just as Adam (peace be upon him) is the father of mankind. This was narrated by al-Tabari with a saheeh isnad (authentic chain of narration) as stated by Ibn Kathir in his exegesis. 2 – With regard to his physical attributes, Allah stated that He created him from fire. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “He created man (Adam) from sounding clay like the clay of pottery. And the jinn He created from a smokeless flame of fire.” [55:14, 15] It was narrated in Saheeh Muslim from the hadeeth (report) of ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The angels were created from light, the jinn were created from smokeless fire, and Adam was created from that which has been described to you.” So it is clear that there is a difference between the physical nature of the angels and that of Iblees, and he is definitely not one of them. 3 – With regard to his attitude, Iblees disobeyed Allah by not prostrating to Adam, but we know from the Quran that it is impossible for the angels to disobey Allah. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “…angels stern (and) severe, who disobey not, (from executing) the commands they receive from Allah, but do that which they are commanded.” [66:6] Some reports which are not saheeh (authentic) have been narrated from some of the salaf (pious predecessors), suggesting that Iblees was the best of the angels, that he was one of the keepers of Paradise, etc. Imam Ibn Kathir commented on this by saying: Many reports to this effect have been narrated from the salaf, but most of them come from the Israiliyyat (reports narrated from Jewish sources) which were narrated to be examined. Allah knows best about the true status of many of them. There are some which can be rejected out of hand because they go against the truth that we have before us. In the Quran there is sufficient information so that we have no need for earlier reports, because hardly any of them are free from alterations, additions and subtractions, and many things have been fabricated in them. The earlier nations did not have scholars to examine these reports and eliminate those which are not sound, as this ummah (nation) has with its imams (religious leaders) and scholars who have great knowledge and are pious and righteous, who wrote down the hadeeth and examined them and showed what is sound and what is not, and what is fabricated, identifying the fabricators, liars and those narrators who were unknown, and other categories of narrators. All of this was to protect the status of the Prophet, the seal of the Prophets and the leader of mankind (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), lest any lie be attributed to him and lest anything be attributed to him that he did not say or do. May Allah be pleased with them and make them pleased and make the Paradise of al-Firdaws their abode. Tafseer al-Quran il-‘Azeem. And Allah knows best. Was Iblis an Angel? Was Iblis one of the angels or one of the jinn? And are the jinn from among the angels? Praise be to Allah. Shaykh Muhammad al-Ameen al-Shanqeeti (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Allah says in the following ayah/verse (interpretation of the meaning): “He [Iblis] was one of the jinn; he disobeyed the command of his Lord.” [18:50] The apparent meaning is that the reason for his disobedience of his Lord was the fact that he was one of the jinn. The conjunction fa in the Arabic text [kana min al-jinn fa-fasaqa ‘an amri Rabbihi] is indicative of the reason, as in the Arabic phrase saraqa fa quti’at yaduhu which means, “he stole, so his hand was cut off”, i.e., that was because he stole; or the phrase saha fa sajada which means, “he forgot so he prostrated”, i.e., that was because he forgot. The same pattern is seen in the ayah (interpretation of the meaning): “And (as for) the male thief and the female thief, cut off [fa-qta’u] (from the wrist joint) their (right) hands.” [5:38] i.e., because of their stealing. Similarly, the phrase kana min al-jinn fa-fasaqa (he was one of the jinn [so] he disobeyed …) means that this was because he was in essence one of the jinn, because this feature is what made him different from the angels, for they obeyed the command but he disobeyed. Because of the apparent meaning of this ayah, a number of scholars were of the opinion that Iblis was not originally one of the angels, rather he was one of the jinn, but he used to worship Allah with them, so he was called by their name because he followed them, just as an ally of a tribe may be given their name. The dispute as to whether Iblis was originally an angel whom Allah changed into a devil, or whether he was not originally an angel but was included in the word malaikah (angels) because he had joined them and worshipped Allah with them, is a well known dispute among the scholars. The evidence of those who say that he was not originally one of the angels is based on two things: 1 – The fact that angels are protected against committing kufr (disbelief) as was committed by Iblis, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Who disobey not, (from executing) the commands they receive from Allah, but do that which they are commanded.” [66:6] “They speak not until He has spoken, and they act on His Command.” [21:27] 2 – Allah clearly states in 18:50 that he was one of the jinn, and the jinn are not angels. They said: this is a Quranic text concerning which there is some dispute. Among those who stated that he was not originally one of the angels based on the apparent meaning of this ayah was-Hasan al-Basri, who was supported by al-Zamakhshari in his tafsir (exegesis). Al-Qurtubi said in his tafsir of Surat al-Baqarah: “The idea that he was one of the angels is the view of the majority, Ibn ‘Abbas, Ibn Mas’ud, Ibn Jurayj, Ibn al-Musayyib, Qutadah and others. It is the view chosen by al-Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan and regarded as more correct by al-Tabari, and it is the apparent meaning of the phrase “except Iblis.” [18:50] What the mufassirin (Quranic exegetists) have quoted from a group of the salaf (righteous predecessors), such as Ibn ‘Abbas and others, that he was one of the noblest of the angels, one of the keepers of Paradise, and that he controlled the affairs of the first heaven, and that his name was ‘Azazil is all taken from the Israliyyat (reports narrated from Jewish sources) and is not reliable. The clearest evidence concerning this matter, the evidence cited by those who said that he was not an angel because of the ayah (interpretation of the meaning): “He [Ibls] was one of the jinn; he disobeyed the command of his Lord,” [18:50] is the clearest text from the revelation that proves this point. And Allah knows best.Question
Answer
Question
Answer